Items tagged with Microsoft
Here is some odd-ball news for your Friday: Microsoft just released a mouse that sports an image of Master Chief. It’s not surprising to see Microsoft promoting its beloved Halo protagonist, but it is weird to see the Chief on an ordinary mouse, given how rarely it has made PC appearances. Whatever...
Read more...
When Microsoft released a beta for its Cortana personal assistant this past spring, it came with a major caveat: Only US users could partake. With its just-released Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, however, the company is now offering use of the feature to those in the UK and China as a beta like the US release, and as an...
Read more...
Microsoft recently rolled-out an upgrade to free OneDrive accounts, but is only now sending out emails to its users to notify them of it. Previously, the company gave any new sign-up 7GB of storage for free; that's now been bumped to 15GB, to match Google with its Drive service. Both are a vast improvement over Dropbox, which offers a mere...
Read more...
Mobile phones reveal more about ourselves than perhaps we'd like to admit. Evidence of that can be found in the way we use our phones -- people have been known to walk into traffic and, in once incident, right off a pier and into the ocean while texting. But it's the selfie craze that lets the world know we're all a...
Read more...
Microsoft is digging deep in its bags of tricks to convince gamers that its Xbox One console is the better option versus Sony's PlayStation 4, the latter of which is maintaining a somewhat large sales lead. Following the launch of a Kinect-less console for a reduced $399 price tag, Microsoft has joined forces with...
Read more...
Big trouble in China? We're not sure, though reports are surfacing that Chinese government officials have been making unannounced visits to Microsoft's offices in China. Microsoft is keeping mum on the visits, and so is China's State Administration for Industry & Commerce, which Chinese media reports had made...
Read more...
While the Xbox-versus-PS4 push and pull endures, Microsoft is doing one thing that helps keep its customers happy and may bring in a few more: Constantly rolling out updates. The company has had an update each month since February, and Xbox Chief Phil Spencer tweeted that they’ll continue at least through...
Read more...
When Microsoft announced the Xbox One, one of its headline features was the creation of new TV and video content. Headlining this new endeavor was a custom Halo-themed television show directed by Ridley Scott. Microsoft didn't reveal much additional information and the news itself was generally swept under the rug in...
Read more...
A lot of people have never been able to understand the logic behind Microsoft's Windows RT, with many urging the company to kill it off so that it can focus on more important products, like the mainline Windows. Well, this is probably not going to come as a huge surprise, especially in light of mass layoffs announced last week, but Microsoft...
Read more...
Statistically speaking, there aren't a whole lot of smartphone owners rocking Microsoft's Windows Phone platform, at least compared to Android and iOS, the two of which collectively account for around nine out of 10 handsets. Presuming a fear of the unknown is preventing some users from hopping on the Windows Phone...
Read more...
Way off in some alternate reality, Microsoft is putting the finishing touches on its Nokia McLaren handset, a flagship phone equipped with 3D Touch technology. The company's marketing team is busy preparing advertisements that show off the Kinect-like gesture control you can pull off courtesy of the phone's many...
Read more...
Microsoft's plans to lay off some 18,000 employees have caused ripples in the tech industry -- it's one of the largest layoffs ever announced at a major IT company -- and some of those ripples have spread to Capitol Hill. On Friday, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala) tore into Microsoft for the hypocrisy of pushing for...
Read more...
It was a bit of a weird month in June for the video game industry. According to a fresh report from NPD Group, overall sales of game systems, software, and accessories in June came to $735 million, representing a healthy 24 percent jump compared to the same month a year ago. It's also the ninth consecutive month of...
Read more...
We won't soon look back and remember this week as the brightest in Microsoft's history. With a newly-minted CEO moving forward with around 18,000 job cuts by the end of 2014, it's clear that this is a pivotal point in Microsoft's history. What will become of Windows, Nokia, its cloud services, and its engagement with...
Read more...
Lenovo, the world's number one supplier of PCs, has reportedly decided to stop selling Windows-based tablets with screen sizes under 10 inches in the U.S. market. That includes the ThinkPad 8, which was launched in January, and the 8-inch version of the Miix 2, which Lenovo began shipping in October of last year. What...
Read more...
AMD reported its second quarter results today, and the stock market is anything but happy with the numbers -- in the past hour, the stock has shed more than 18% of its value, plunging from $4.57 to $3.86 as of this writing. Given the size of the plunge, you'd think the company had just announced its own imminent...
Read more...
No company ever announces job cuts by saying, “We’re scuttling thousands of jobs, and that sucks, but that’s business”. Microsoft’s version of tap-dancing around the nasty business of layoffs is an email from CEO Satya Nadella titled “Starting to Evolve Our Organization and...
Read more...
The Price Is Right: Microsoft Claims Xbox One Sales Doubled After Unveiling $399 Kinect-Free Console
Microsoft raised a few eyebrows when it first announced that its Xbox One console would cost $499, a Benjamin more than Sony's PlayStation 4. Thus began the chatter on whether or not gamers would be willing to pay a premium for the Xbox One and, at the time, its mandatory Kinect bundle. Turns out they were, though...
Read more...
Another end of an era is right around the corner, though attentive drivers could probably have seen this one coming. We're talking about the discontinuation of Microsoft's MapPoint software. After 15 years of service, Microsoft said it's planning to fold up MapPoint for good on December 31, 2014, though you're welcome...
Read more...
In dribbles and drips, we’re (allegedly) learning more about the next Microsoft OS, Windows 9 “Threshold”. The latest bit to leak out is a screenshot that purports to show the new desktop environment, including a remade Start screen. The screen grab comes from My Digital Life forum user DUF_, and you...
Read more...
If you want to beat the Las Vegas odds makers, you might want to look at the available software at your disposable. To wit, EA's Madden NFL franchise has correctly predicted the winner of the Super Bowl in 8 of the last 11 tries (but got it wrong this last time around), and Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant for...
Read more...
In a lengthy and open memo to employees regarding Microsoft's future, company CEO Satya Nadella mentioned having to "flatten the organization and develop leaner business processes." That sounds an awful lot like cost cutting measures might be in Microsoft's future, though Nadella managed to dodge an inquiry on whether...
Read more...
